I love Sinead O’Connor. I have this weird thing about music. I rarely listen to it. It’s not because I don’t like music, it’s because it moves me so much. If I am out shopping and hear a song that reminds me of something, it can completely overwhelm me. So I don’t buy much music. But I probably have everything that Sinead ever released getting dusty on my music shelf. I was DEEPLY saddened to learn a few years ago that she was “going through some things.” And I am immensely proud of her now for talking about mental health issues publicly. When your brain betrays you, you are expected to be ashamed of your “issues.” Why? I just don’t get it.
Anyhow, I am on a little trip to crazyland myself today and over explaining the story. It’s along post. Click through and let me know what you think!
OPEN LETTER TO MILEY CYRUS
Dear Miley,
I wasn’t going to write this letter, but today i’ve been dodging phone calls from various newspapers who wished me to remark upon your having said in Rolling Stone your Wrecking Ball video was designed to be similar to the one for Nothing Compares… So t…his is what I need to say… And it is said in the spirit of motherliness and with love. I am extremely concerned for you that those around you have led you to believe, or encouraged you in your own belief, that it is in any way ‘cool’ to be naked and licking sledgehammers in your videos.
It is in fact the case that you will obscure your talent by allowing yourself to be pimped, whether its the music business or yourself doing the pimping. Nothing but harm will come in the long run, from allowing yourself to be exploited, and it is absolutely NOT in ANY way an empowerment of yourself or any other young women, for you to send across the message that you are to be valued (even by you) more for your sexual appeal than your obvious talent.
I am happy to hear I am somewhat of a role model for you and I hope that because of that you will pay close attention to what I am telling you. The music business doesn’t give a shit about you, or any of us. They will prostitute you for all you are worth, and cleverly make you think its what YOU wanted.. and when you end up in rehab as a result of being prostituted, ‘they’ will be sunning themselves on their yachts in Antigua, which they bought by selling your body and you will find yourself very alone. None of the men oggling you give a shit about you either, do not be fooled. Many’s the woman mistook lust for love. If they want you sexually that doesn’t mean they give a fuck about you. All the more true when you unwittingly give the impression you don’t give much of a fuck about yourself. And when you employ people who give the impression they don’t give much of a fuck about you either. No one who cares about you could support your being pimped.. and that includes you yourself. Yes, I’m suggesting you don’t care for yourself. That has to change. You ought be protected as a precious young lady by anyone in your employ and anyone around you, including you.
This is a dangerous world. We don’t encourage our daughters to walk around naked in it because it makes them prey for animals and less than animals, a distressing majority of whom work in the music industry and it’s associated media. You are worth more than your body or your sexual appeal. The world of showbiz doesn’t see things that way, they like things to be seen the other way, whether they are magazines who want you on their cover, or whatever.. Don’t be under any illusions.. ALL of them want you because they’re making money off your youth and your beauty.. which they could not do except for the fact your youth makes you blind to the evils of show business.
If you have an innocent heart you can’t recognise those who do not. I repeat, you have enough talent that you don’t need to let the music business make a prostitute of you. You shouldn’t let them make a fool of you either. Don’t think for a moment that any of them give a flying fuck about you. They’re there for the money.. we’re there for the music. It has always been that way and it will always be that way. The sooner a young lady gets to know that, the sooner she can be REALLY in control.
You also said in Rolling Stone that your look is based on mine. The look I chose, I chose on purpose at a time when my record company were encouraging me to do what you have done. I felt I would rather be judged on my talent and not my looks. I am happy that I made that choice, not least because I do not find myself on the proverbial rag heap now that I am almost 47 yrs of age.. which unfortunately many female artists who have based their image around their sexuality, end up on when they reach middle age.
Real empowerment of yourself as a woman would be to in future refuse to exploit your body or your sexuality in order for men to make money from you. I needn’t even ask the question.. I’ve been in the business long enough to know that men are making more money than you are from you getting naked. Its really not at all cool. And its sending dangerous signals to other young women. Please in future say no when you are asked to prostitute yourself. Your body is for you and your boyfriend. It isn’t for every spunk-spewing dirtbag on the net, or every greedy record company executive to buy his mistresses diamonds with.
As for the shedding of the Hannah Montana image.. whoever is telling you getting naked is the way to do that does absolutely NOT respect your talent, or you as a young lady. Your records are good enough for you not to need any shedding of Hannah Montana. She’s waaaaaaay gone by now.. Not because you got naked but because you make great records. Whether we like it or not, us females in the industry are role models and as such we have to be extremely careful what messages we send to other women. The message you keep sending is that its somehow cool to be prostituted.. its so not cool Miley.. its dangerous. Women are to be valued for so much more than their sexuality. we aren’t merely objects of desire. I would be encouraging you to send healthier messages to your peers.. that they and you are worth more than what is currently going on in your career. Kindly fire any motherfucker who hasn’t expressed alarm, because they don’t care about you.
So after Sinead sent a heartfelt response to Miley after Miley claimed to be patterning herself after Sinead, Miley took to twitter to post a myriad of nasty things that compared Sinead to Amanda Bynes. She also retweeted things from a time when Sinead was seeking treatment for mental health issues. Klassy. Sinead responded with the following on her Facebook.
Ms Cyrus has today posted tweets of mine which are two years old and which were sent when I was ill and seeking medical help. She has done this in an attempt to deliberately cause me harm and hurt. I wish to confirm that I am quite well and kindly request people cease e mailing me in the mistaken belief these are recent tweets.
Ms Cyrus’ lawyers will be contacted by mine regarding this matter.
I confirm also that I do not at all support or condone the abuse or mockery of those who have been brave enough to openly discuss mental health issues. Mockery causes deaths. Period. It is an unacceptable form of bullying, no matter who it is doing the bullying.
Then Miley tweeted that she didn’t have time to write an open letter to Sinead because she is busy hosting SNL this week. But she did say something about meeting her.
Miley
I have no interest whatsoever in meeting you. You had plenty of time yesterday to abuse Amanda Bynes .. an entirely innocent party.. and myself.. who also did nothing to deserve your abuse.. along with every other sufferer of mental health problems and every person who suffered abuse at the hands of priests.
The Lion and The Cobra is one my all time favorite albums. This album & her voice are so haunting, and Troy is a song I can listen on repeat all day. I still get the goose bumps after listening to it for more than 25 years.
Now to the twitter war between a brat and an icon. Nah never mind. It’s too exhausting. I’d rather go listen to music.
I somehow ended up watching miley’s site on MTV (or was it VH1?) the other night. Confirmed and added to my dislike for her. She is delusional with her whole “the movement” thing. I don’t even know what her so called movement is supposed to be about or moving toward. Makes no sense at all. She obviously thinks that she is much bigger than she is, and I hope she falls flat on her face and hard. And for God’s sake miley, keep that disgusting tongue of yours in your fresh little mouth.
Sinead O’Connor, of course I don’t know her personally; but she’s put enough of her vulnerability and struggles out there so that I can say I think she’s pretty much wonderful! I wish her all the goodness, health and yes, respect, she deserves and congratulate her for reaching out WITH HER HEART. She not only gave of her heart, but the fruit of her struggles to find help and her experiences provided excellent advice to someone who doesn’t believe enough in her own talents. Someone who’s parents ought to have provided it in addition to proper guidance. Cyrus doesn’t appear to fall far from her own family tree judging by their behavior recently. Most notably, her mother cheering her on while she “performed”. Hideous and sad. Sure, she’s getting publicity with that act, but at what price? Does this mean it doesn’t matter what we do as long as we get record sales? What ever happened to relying and having confidence in your actual talent rather than sensationalism? I guess it’s all OK as long as they spell her name correctly…
Sinead O’Connor is awesome.
From me, queen of the run-on sentence and occasional incoherence. Better living through pharmaceuticals says the poster child for Prozac 😀
Sinead’s voice is so beautiful, and it was sad when her hard times were in the news a couple of years ago. I have a lot of respect for Sinead, and Miley Cyrus (and any other current pop sensation) would be foolish to not take every word of those open letters to heart.
OMG I just read the Sinead tweets, she as pleading desperately for a shrink, begging and pleading for anyone to help her. OMG. OMG,… I know the feeling. Something is wrong with me. I’m so heartbroken for all of us,
I believe that Sinead said that the posts that MC was using in her reaction are at least 2 years old. She said that she is much more at ease now.
My ex husband is from Ireland. His mom had to wait months to see a doctor for an infection she had. She was very sick for a long time. And, the travel to get to a doctor is likely 2-3 hours away.
Damn! That was a beautiful open letter to Miley, and it appears to have fallen on DEAF ears. Miley acts like a female version of Kanye. I don’t know if it’s a generational thing or what, but it seems to me you can’t tell, advise, help,enlighten, teach some of the 20-40 somethings anything. I have children in that age range so I know what I’m talking about. Sinead was just trying to warn her of all of the pitfalls of the music industry, and to value herself as a young talented female (like someone who cares about you would) and this girl takes it in a whole other direction, and even mocks her. I know wisdom comes with age, but somebody should clue this kid about karma. I’m surprised her dad Billy Ray didn’t give her some of that advice that Sinead was trying to give her. Maybe he did.
I;m sobbing and drinking and listening to Sinead. She sings the stories of my life. HOW DARE THIS LITTLE CUNT CHALLENGE HER ( and lose)
I whole heartedly agreed with everything Sinead said except that Miley was talented. I didn’t like it when her reject father came through with his abomination to country music and I don’t like any of her corporate over produced bubble gum garbage. Sinead is about the only person that could cover a Prince song and do it better. Miley should’ve been honored and fucking grateful that Sinead took any time out of her life to remotely consider her.
Girlfriend might be too stupid at this stage to be honored.
I too was surprised to read a genuinely talented individual praise MC. Mind you, Elton John also defended her on ‘Ellen’ and both Ellen and Elton agreed she was ‘really talented’.
Love Sinead’s music. I did not know she was having problems. Miley is trying so hard to distance herself from the image of Hannah Montana, that she probably not listening.
It’s hard to stomach the level of stupid that chooses to support saucy stupid little lacking talent tarts like Miley Cyrus. I don’t listen to her stuff mainly because her father was so boring as a musician that I had no desire to.
But, to listen to a woman who sings as beautifully and with such control and breath as Sinead, it is certain confection for the ears.
I love Amanda Palmer and Sinead. Amanda was pro Miley, to the point of being able to express herself however she likes, and that nudity DOES bring attention to a female.
I have to side with Sinead on this one. Miley IS a talented singer and comedic actress. She doesn’t need to sell herself (prostitute, as Sinead says). And, as Sinead says, whether Miley likes it or not, she is a role model, not only to her fans, but her little sister. (I recall Rihanna being pissed off about being a role model, saying, “I didn’t sign up for that”. Sorry, it’s part and parcel of being famous.)
On one hand, I understand Miley’s rebellion; she was the breadwinner in a family of six. She had no childhood, didn’t get to grow up normally, didn’t get to go to school, or dances or eat shitty cafeteria lunches or get detention.
What makes me sad is that I’ve had experiences similar to Sinead. I don’t like to see girls sexualize themselves like she is. It seems contrived. It seems fake. It does seem like the music industry moguls would suggest she do this for record sales. Between being told what to do her whole life, what cue to come in on, what to say and when, playing a dual role for so long (triple if you count “daughter”), her odd relationship with her dad (and now, of all people, Terry Richardson – google the pedo/rapist photographer; he is known for this, and most modelling agencies won’t send underage models to him any more). Add to that the sick, twisted world of Disney (Walt, a pedophile himself). It makes me think that something very likely could have happened to her. (She’s also an admitted pothead and takes ecstasy/Molly – self medicating?)
These kids are given far too much responsibility as children and are left in the hands of some questionable people. What Miley is doing is probably no big deal to her; even if she wasn’t mishandled in some way, these kids only know how to ACT. They, I believe, don’t even know who they are – their true selves.
Talent doesn’t need to be a gimmick or side show. I mean, I don’t care for these singers, per se, but look at Carrie Underwood or Jennifer Hudson. Right?
PS Oddly, I was reading about Corey Haim last night, his molestation, his lifelong drug abuse, his untimely death. My heart breaks for these kids.
PPS I don’t know if the above makes sense; they are just my thoughts and it makes me kinda sad. Btw – “Nothing Compares 2 U” is the song that shreds me…
Tamara, I am the same way about music as you are. A particular song can remind me of something, a place, a person, a situation and it can send me into a tailspin. I cannot listen to Carole King’s Tapestry. It sends me back to a place I don’t care to be. But I have music that makes me super happy and that’s what I choose to listen to 🙂
While Miley is wrong for the tweets, Sinead O’Connor should have sent her a personal letter instead of one for the public. I’ve always felt public letters on personal issues were tasteless.
How would sinead know where to send? do you think all stars know each other?
I had a feeling someone would say that. Obviously they don’t all know each other but that’s what assistants are for. I can’t imagine it’s difficult for them to get in touch with each other.. At least via e-mail.
Aaron: it seems everyone is posting “open letters” these days. Even taking out a page of a magazine to do so. Secondly, Sinead is in Ireland and is not rolling in the dough. I doubt she has an assistant. She wouldntt have been begging on twitter if anyone knew a shrink that would take her asap if she had money.
Sinead is an artist who puts her heart and soul into her songs. I have always loved her music. I will never forget the uproar for her SNL performance and ripping the Pope’s picture. The media went crazy and I can’t imagine the hell she went through, but she did this before all of the sex abuse cases came to light. My heart ached when she was having so much trouble a couple years ago.
Miley is a brat and her music is awful. I’m all for artists expressing themselves, but her performance on the VMA’s was just awful and embarrassing and worst of all her singing was terrible. She made me wish I had brain bleach to erase that image of her with the foam finger. Ugggh I never want to see a foam finger again.
Miley started this whole thing by saying something about Sinead inspiring her look for her Wrecking Ball video in Rolling Stone then Sinead responded with a heartfelt open letter. Miley’s mocking response just shows was a little brat she is. And to mock Amanda Bynes WTF.
I have had a bad feeling about Miley’s behavior for quite a while. Hyper sexualized, seemingly out of control wild behavior, shaving off her hair, and bragging about drug use all are red flags. I know that entertainers do this all the time, but Miley seems to take it too far and she is very chaotic. Does Miley have a possible mental health issue of her own? She should really take Sinead’s advise and apologize.
Those signs you mention are symptomatic of childhood sexual abuse, as I opined above. I only know, because I’ve been through it.
Usually women who have repressed memories start breaking between 38-40, like Sinead and myself.
But at Miley’s age, I was totally acting out, creating chaos where ever I went, self medicating and other things that are too embarassing to mention.
Thank God I had my 1st son at 23. He truly saved me from a horribly self destructive, deadly path.
May anyone who has mental health issues, I only hope ur able to get the therapy an meds it takes to make ur life stable. Too many ppl isn’t able to get suffient help. An I’m not sure Obamacare is the answer.
Miley’s response to Sineads very thoughtful letter was a slap to the face of anyone suffering from mental illness. It was disgusting and my heart broke for Sinead.
brings to mind the saying “no good deed goes unpunished.” i’m sorry that sinead wasted her time with miley cyrus. all that energy and love poured into an open letter and she gets abused and mocked by the person she is trying to help. hopefully one day miley understands how pathetic she is being right now and gains a little self respect. (that tongue thing is totally unsexy and stupid)
Sinead was receiving numerous interview requests and finally relented by posting the letter to Miley and her tounge.
Miley will get it later…when it’s too late…
I forget sometimes she is only 20. Most of us had to learn some lessons the hard way at that age.
Yes. You know, I was recently thinking, how do you expect a person of that age to respond to an open letter like that? You know how people of that age are. Always have to show someone not to mess with them. Still can’t stand Miley, but…
I never really had compassion for the mentally ill at that age even though my undergrad was in psychology. It seemed like a foreign concept. Now, not so much. I realize in the grand scheme of mental health issues, mine are minimal, but it is still super scary.
There are few things in my life that I feel like I am really good at. But I have always considered myself fairly intelligent. I was decisive. I was outgoing. Now I have public meltdowns on twitter over things I could have quickly handled before. I’m pretty much unemployable unless I can write from home. And I am a recluse.
No one chooses to have a mental illness. No one deserves to be mocked for it. I so appreciate all of you guys for being supportive and not being all judgemental when the cheese slides off my sandwich temporarily. #SappyGroupHug
In this day and age, I believe you are far from alone in experiencing these feelings/anxiety. It truly is a mad mad world. I say often (honestly, at least a few times a week) that we need to be done away with and start anew. Our maybe not even start anew… maybe just fine away with all together. Not like there isn’t far more intelligent life elsewhere.
Just in case the typo police come for me, what I meant to say was:
*Or maybe not even start anew… maybe just done away with all together. Not like there isn’t far more intelligent life elsewhere.
(((((((hugs)))))))
I want to be part of that Sappy group hug, Tamara–we love you and all your ways